Next week I will have the opportunity to attend my second consecutive McDonald’s All American Games. This year’s event will be played on March 28th at Philips Arena (home of the Atlanta Hawks) in Atlanta, Georgia. The McDonald’s All American Games are the biggest high school basketball all star games in the world and benefit the Ronald 
McDonald House Charities. This year’s event will benefit the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities which has more than 50,000 families since 1979. Proceeds will support the operations of the two Ronald McDonald Houses in Atlanta, the Ronald McDonald Family Room, and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile.
I have watched the McDonalds games on TV for several years and last year (2017) was my first opportunity to watch the games in person. The games took place at the United Center in Chicago, IL, home of the Chicago Bulls. This was a rather special time to see it in person as I got to root on/interact with Delaware’s own Trevon Duval (Duke) 
and other players from the region such as Mohamed Bamba (Westtown, PA/ Texas University), Quade Green (Neumann Goretti, PA/ University of Kentucky), and Nick Richards (Patrick School, NJ/ University of Kentucky). In addition I got to see some of the most notable players in the country such as; DeAndre Ayton, Michael Porter Jr, Trae Young, Collin Sexton, Troy Brown, and Wendall Carter. The experience was one of a lifetime which included having access to players in the locker room, front row for the post game interviews/awards, hanging out with the players in the tunnel prior to entering the court, and a tour of the United Center which has tons of history and was where the greatest NBA player of all time in my opinion played, Michael Jordan.
This years event will once again have the best players in the country including the 2018 Naismith Trophy Boys High School Player of the Year, R.J Barrett of Montverde Academy(FL). Barrett is committed to Duke University and joining him in this years game will be three other Blue Devil commits in Zion Williamson (Spartanburg Day, SC), Tre Jones (Apple Valley, MN), and Cam Reddish (Westtown, PA). Other big time notable players include Oregon commits Bol Bol (Findlay Prep) / Louis King (Hudson Catholic), Kansas commits David McCormack ( Oak Hill), Devon Dotson (Providence Day), and Quentin Grimes (Woodlands College Park). Regional talents Jahvon Quinerly (Villanova) and Naz Reid (LSU) will also be young men I’m interested in seeing participate. At this time there are still three players that are undecided on which college they will attend (Romeo Langford, EJ Montgomery, and Jordan Brown.) Full roster is pictured below.
Each year I continue to add new events to the list of the ones I already attend such as Slam Dunk to the Beach, The Hoop Hall Classic, and most recently the McDonalds All American Games. In 2018 I will attempt to add the City of Palms or the Chic Fil A Classic in an effort to see the best high school basketball in the country and support as many of these young men as possible that use basketball as a tool to better their personal lives, use it to gain an education or an advantage in life.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER/INSTAGRAM @1STSTATESPORTS
1stStateSports 